My daughter recently turned two. We celebrated her birthday in Vermont, and the theme of her party was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-- which is one of her favorite songs. We shined lights in the shape of stars onto the ceiling, had glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the wall, a nightlight projecting Planet Earth, star confetti, star balloons, and other fun outer space decorations. But the real "star" of the party was the desserts. I made a round cake with white coconut whipped cream frosting to represent the moon, and yellow cupcakes in the shape of stars.

Besides the fact that most food coloring/dyes aren’t vegan, there are studies linking them to a whole host of health problems, including behavioral issues in kids. They are everywhere: in baked goods, cereals, snacks, candy, and many other common products. Even if my daughter wasn’t vegan, I’d want her to steer clear of these toxic products, there’s just nothing good about them. With some experimentation and creativity, it's easy to find natural, safe alternatives using vegetables, fruits and spices. No chemicals involved! Check out this beautiful bright pink frosting I made using just raspberries. For my daughter’s birthday, I needed yellow dye for her star cupcakes. With a little help from my Twitter friends, I tested out turmeric. It worked perfectly! I mixed it into the frosting little by little, and tasted it as I went along to make sure that the flavor of turmeric wasn’t detectable. What I ended up with was a beautiful yellow-colored icing. I was so happy with the results that I plan to use turmeric from now on whenever I need a yellow dye.

Grease and sprinkle some flour into an 8 inch cake pan or round (your choice)

In a large bowl combine sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt

Cut the shortening into your dry ingredients

in another bowl combine vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, and water to the bowl, mix well

Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well.

Pour cake batter immediately into pan and bake

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then place the cake upside down on a plate and allow it to cool an additional 10 minutes before frosting.COCONUT WHIPPED CREAMIngredients: 2 (14-ounce) cans full-fat coconut milk 1/3 cup vegan powdered sugar

Directions: 1. Chill coconut milk in refrigerator from 4 - 12 hours. Chill whisk attachment from mixer, if room in fridge. 2. Attach whisk attachment to mixer. Open cans of coconut milk, being careful not to stir or shake the contents inside. Carefully scoop the top, thick part of the coconut milk from inside the can; discard the remaining coconut liquid/water. Place thick coconut cream in a medium mixing bowl; add sugar. 3. Whip until just smooth and thick, about 20 seconds. Do not overmix-- mixture will fall and become thin. Use whipped cream immediately, or refrigerate up to 4 hours prior to use

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

For more delicious vegan cupcake and cake recipes, check out this book. It should be in every vegan parent's kitchen!